On the Line

Juggernaut Elena Delle Donne rocketed to the heights of college athletics, then dropped off the map. Now she’s back—happy, fired up, and ready to change the game.

by Matt Amis

(page 5 of 5)

“People are telling me she looks like a different person,” Ernie Delle Donne says. “I’m seeing that glee in her eye again, and as parents, you can imagine how happy that makes Joanie and I.”

At UD, Delle Donne will split time between power forward and guard, a testament to her versatility and unique skill set.

“I think she’s going to have a phenomenal career,” Voepel says. “I think she is such a talented player that she won’t just raise the level of the team, but she’s going to make that program so much more palatable for recruits. Her impact at Delaware will probably extend well beyond her time on campus.”

The buzz surrounding UD women’s basketball is at an all-time high. Advanced season ticket sales for women’s basketball jumped considerably this summer, reaching 742 as of late August, up from 422 the previous year, according to UD’s sports information department.

And though Delle Donne has freshman eligibility and can play all four years at UD, she hinted that she might forego her final year and make the leap to the WNBA, the 2012 Olympics and beyond.

“I was supposed to change women’s basketball,” she says. “I’d still like to do that.”